Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Education And Debate

Communicating risks at the population level: application of population impact numbers

BMJ 2003; 327 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.327.7424.1162 (Published 13 November 2003) Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:1162

Rapid Response:

Please, not the toilet

Please avoid representing a toilet as suitable for disposal of
pharmaceuticals[1]. Drugs and chemicals are best kept of the ecosystem,
and certainly downstream drinking water supplies[2].

Peter Jacobsen
4730 Monterey Way
Sacramento, California 95822
916-456-8645 (h)

[1] Heller RF, Buchan I, et al. Communicating risks at the population
level: application of population impact numbers. BMJ 2003;327:1162–5.

[2] Levin RB, Epstein PR, et al. U.S. Drinking Water Challenges in
the Twenty-First Century. Environmental Health Perspectives 2002;110(suppl
1):43–52.

Competing interests:
I work for an urban water supplier. These comments are my own.

Competing interests: No competing interests

06 January 2004
Peter L. Jacobsen
Consultant
Sacramento, California USA 95822